Judging by Daryl Morey’s heavily diminished role with the Houston Rockets organization over the last few weeks, his decision to step down from his general manager post was not sudden at all.
Morey, himself, admitted that his choice was premeditated, which started the moment the Rockets got eliminated by eventual champs Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2020 playoffs.
Per a report by Kelly Iko and Sam Amick of The Athletic, Morey practically just served as the team’s consultant in the weeks leading to his resignation.
Daryl Morey’s role in the Rockets’ coaching search had diminished over the past few weeks and he had been operating essentially as a consultant, @TheAthletic has learned.
New reporting, including conversations with Morey and Tilman Fertitta, from @sam_amick and @KellyIkoNBA
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) October 16, 2020
This, of course, was quite a shock, considering the 48-year-old executive was in total control of the Rockets since 2007 and was the most trusted confidant of team owner Tilman Fertitta.
Morey was the initiator of abiding by analytical methods in basketball games — which eventually became the Rockets’ whole identity over the past few seasons. That analytical approach soon took over the entire NBA, as opposing franchises also began embracing it to their system.
The Rockets’ failure to go past the second round also led to the exodus of Mike D’Antoni, who coached the team for the last four seasons.
The Rockets have yet to find his replacement but were reportedly upfront to coaching candidates about Morey’s impending departure even before it was made public.
“We’ve been up front with all the candidates that this was coming and they’ve been respectful to not have it get out early. It’s been baked in,” the Rockets brass claimed in the report.
However, two unnamed candidates claimed that it remained unclear if Morey indeed had one foot outside the door.
“There were signs of something being amiss, the candidates said, among them the fact that Morey wasn’t leading the process. But they said there was no direct message that Morey was about to step down.”
The Rockets’ coaching pool got smaller when their prospect Tyronn Lue agreed to take over the reins with the Los Angeles Clippers. Houston reportedly has their former head coach Jeff Van Gundy as the frontrunner, while Stephen Silas, Wes Unseld Jr., and Kenny Atkinson are reportedly in the running.
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